Bleeding Roses
by GothicDJ
Summary: AU: Yuffie is a happily depressed, gothic authoress. Vincent is her biggest fan. When they meet at a book signing, love blossoms. Chapter Nine is up after an eternity and a half.
1. Goodnight Valentine

AU fic. Yuffie is a depressed writer who writes equally depressing stories. Vincent is her number one fan. At a book signing, they meet, and love blossoms. 

So yeah…I got this inspiration when I was…sitting in my room listening to…weird music. And a very good song called 'So, Ha'. I am now addicted to that song. Anyway, I got inspiration for this like a kick in the ass and I couldn't help but not write it. I mean, how many times do you get the chance to make Yuffie a Goth. She'll be JUST like me now ^^ *grins*. I'm stupid, I know, but I love it.

Oh yesss…and before I forget:

Disclaimer: I own everything in this fic…*sees Mr. Lawsuit Man coming up to her* In reality, it means that I don't own Final Fantasy VII or Internet Explorer…or Palm Pilot…or Live Journals…or Pirates of the Caribbean…but I had to add that in SOMEWHERE!

Also, I want to thank my beta reader for the first five chapters, Hanna_Kaptens!

Let's please all thank her for making sure that these first five chapters that I put out don't look like living crap!

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"He ravished her body, eliciting a moan of hate and lust from the young girl. The tears streamed down her face as the man continued to fondle her. Such ill fate for such a beautiful flower…."

Vincent placed the book down in complete awe. He didn't know how someone could think up such a depressing, yet beautiful story, but it had been done, and he loved it. Vincent picked up the book once more as he began to read again.

"Her shackles rattled like the frail beat of her heart, fluttering against her chest. The man's left hand reached lower and another moan bubbled from her throat against her will. So this was what rape was. A mix between shame, lust, and fear. As the tears rolled down the young woman's face, the man grinned a sickening grin. It was then where cold realization sunk in. There would be no dazzling hero to save her before her purity was taken. Closing her eyes, she sat there, being completely violated, and cried."

            Vincent had been reading that all night and had gone through seven chapters like they were nothing, yet his eyes were feeling the strain, and he was forced to put the book down. He could afford to take a break from reading. It wasn't as if it was his first time reading that book.  Sticking in the bookmark, he looked at the back cover. On it was a picture of the authoress, Yuffie Kisaragi. She was rather beautiful, if Vincent had any say in it. She had short hair in a bob cut that was pulled back with a black bandanna. The bandanna had silver Celtic symbols stitched onto it like flames, and her eyes were adorned with swirling black eyeliner. A gothic girl if Vincent had ever seen one.  Reading her bio, it stated that she lived in New York City, that she took various forms of martial arts, and that she was of Chinese heritage, as well as other trivial things. Vincent, also a citizen of New York City, suddenly felt very compelled to meet her. 

            Reading on in her short biography, it also said that she had an online journal that she wrote in to let people keep track of book progress, book signings, and her usual hang out spots. Vincent, intrigued, clicked onto Internet Explorer and typed in the web address, bringing him instantly to the page. 

            The piano instrumental of the Titanic theme immediately started playing to match the black and white theme of her journal. Vincent moved his mouse to click 'newest entry' and read:

" 'Allo Poppits. Ha, I just saw Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl, and I just got a good old inspiration boost. This Kisaragi will be busy with her newest book "Midnight Waltzing". It is about a woman named Aeris who is to be murdered by a man named Sephiroth, and he almost succeeds, but fails to when he falls in love with her. Yes, I know, cliché, but this Kisaragi shall make it so it's NOT a cliché. I'm good like that :-D But…on another note, I'm going to have a book signing for my book "Bleeding Roses". It's going to be in New York City (My hometown...for once. I had to travel all the way to Washington once. And NOT D.C) and I will be signing in the 7th Heaven Café. Hope to see my readers there, because it makes me happy to know that people actually read my books. Oh yeah, and before this Kisaragi forgets, it's going to be on Sunday, August 10, 2003 (Date for all you…wanderers out there) from 8:00 to 3:00 (psh…I have nothing better to do with my life). So yeah, be there or be triangle. This Kisaragi shall now go get some instant ramen, so I'll see who turns up. 

P.S: If anyone wants to talk to me, just ask me. I'm not that crazy ^^;;

Vincent signed off of Internet Explorer and checked his Palm Pilot for the date. There was no way on Earth that he would miss this. Clicking on the section that said 'date', it flashed "Saturday, August 9, 2003. 

"Aww shit," Vincent swore. It was already 12:30 at night. If he didn't get to bed right away, he'd probably sleep until two o' clock in the afternoon. Shutting his computer and his palm pilot off, he trudged groggily to his bedroom and managed to set his alarm for 7:30 in the morning, before passing out on the bed.

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Chapter one is officially done. Hey, I made a rhyme :-D. Anyway, PLEASE review because I'm going to need some feedback as to how this is going. Oh yeah, and what did you think about the book pieces. Made them up at the spur of the moment. I'm writing this to take a break from my main fic "The Game Queen And Then Some: Sequel" which close to no one is reviewing, so I feel bad now. Need to get my mind off of it for a while. Oh yeah, and I'm writing another FFVII fanfic that involves a very serious game…of Twister…don't ask...Anyway, responses are always great. ^^  
Peaceout all!


	2. A cup of coffee anyone?

A/N: Well, here's chapter 2. Nothing much to write here since I'm dead tired except for the fact that I don't own FFVII or anything mentioned in here that doesn't belong to me. THE END

A shrill beep began to make a steady beat at 7:30 in the morning, and a hand quickly smashed down the snooze button before the body attached to the hand began to rise. A head rose from underneath the blankets, covered in long, thick, and knotted ebony hair. A shirtless man flopped from the bed and onto the floor and stumbled into the bathroom, mumbling questions as to why he was up so early. Five minutes later he emerged from the bathroom shaven, cleaned, and much more alert than he was prior to his 'refreshing moment'. Sadly, he wasn't as aware as usual, and as his alarm started beeping again, he freaked, picked it up, yanked it out the wall, and lobbed it out the window with all his strength. And suddenly, a thought struck his sleepy head.

'I'm going to regret that when I'm fully awake.'

            Walking to his small apartment kitchen, he started walking around trying to find one of those glorious packets of Instant Coffee. To his shock, there was none. Apparently he used the last one to keep himself up to read the seven chapters of 'Bleeding Roses'. He uttered a small curse, pulled on some decent clothes, and walked out the house. At least he was a regular at the 7th Heaven Café, so his friend Tifa, the head waitress and owner, would get him a decent cup of coffee.

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"Hello and welcome to the 7th Heaven Café. How may I help you s—Oh…Hi Vincent. Need coffee? You look like it. Here, sit here and I'll be right back. Two creams and a sugar right?" The constant questions that Tifa was giving him, combined with his coffee-deprived self just caused him to look at her blankly and nod. Then she shoved him into a booth and stalked off in all her waitress glory. Vincent felt himself collapse on the table for a good solid three minutes or so, when steaming hot cup of coffee was placed in front of him, and a pair of wine colored eyes peered into his from across the table. Vincent idly wondered when she had sat down before picking up and taking a long gulp of his Cup-Of-Joe, halfway burning himself in the process.

"So, did you here that I'm giving the place up so that Yuffie Kisaragi can do her book signing here?" Tifa asked, watching in mild amusement as Vincent tried to gulp down the caffeine-filled drink without 'burning the shit out of himself'. He paused long enough to answer her.

"Yeah, she's one of my favorite authoresses so technically, that's what I'm here for. Say, how did she end up renting out a place like this?" He asked his question and immediately went back to his cooling coffee.

"Oh, that Kisaragi and I go wwaayy back. We've been best friends for I don't know how long. Funny, I don't know how you never saw her. She's here all the time. Although I'm not surprised you didn't see her as she usually just keeps to the shadows…" Tifa trailed off in thought while Vincent sat there wide-eyed.

"You are best friends with my FAVORITE authoress and you NEVER told me. Tifa, I'm hurt." Vincent put his hand up to his face dramatically in mock-sadness. Tifa looked just as surprised as he had a moment ago.

"You never told me that Yuffie was your favorite author. I could have interested you two in a heartbeat, and maybe you could…"Tifa once again trailed of and fell into a fit of giggles. Vincent, knowing Tifa well enough knew what this meant. 

"You know, Tifa. You have bad habit of trying to set people up with other people." He said in annoyance, and went back to his coffee that cooled to the perfect temperature. Tifa giggled even harder.

"Vincent, you should know by now that I'm the Love Goddess. Why, I was probably blessed by Aphrodite herself just so that I could set people up. I mean I _did _set up half of this damn café with their soul mates. So why not trust me now?" Vincent had to admit, she did have a point. More people walked in here sad and lonely and walked out happy and coupled than a church.

"Ok, so I admire her for her work, but what if she doesn't admire me for anything and she hated my guts. I mean I work as a fucking Doctor. What's sexy about hacking at someone's limbs while they're drugged on morphine?" Even if Vincent hadn't meant for there to be an underlying message, there was, and Tifa picked up like a Bloodhound on a scent. 

"Ohh…so you DO like her… and your just worried that she won't like you if she met you. Well don't worry about that. That's what Auntie Tifa is for. And don't worry; Yuffie's a little…different. So I'm sure that she'll find something incredibly sexy about a man leaving a room dressed in white and covered in blood. And if push comes to shove, you can be a muse for some of those depressing stories she writes. Nothing fuels angst like watching a leg being sawn off first-hand." Vincent, despite himself, had to chuckle at this. If he could write for beans, then he was sure that the product would have come out pretty angsty as well when you see a man come in with a left leg completely ridden with gangrene. Either that or he would write complete humor from watching things like men coming in with various strange elements plaguing their…ahem...testicles.*

"Ahhh yes, speak of the devil. Here comes Ms. Celebrity herself." Just as Tifa said this, the door opened, and in walked Yuffie in all her Gothyness glory. She had chosen a short, black pleated skirt with safety pins around it, and long sleeved black shirt whit bondage straps attached to the sleeves. As shoes, she chose tall black boots that had a zipper up the side, yet laced and buckled up. And of course, her signature swirling, black eye make-up was in place. Tifa stood up from the booth and went over to greet her, wrapping her arms around Yuffie in a giant hug. Yuffie reciprocated until she made a squeaking noise indicating that breathing was becoming a challenge. Vincent shrunk into the corner of the booth and finished off the last off his coffee. He could vaguely hear the conversation going on between the two girls.

"How are you doing? Got a boyfriend yet? How are your books coming along? What's going on with you these days, I hardly get to see you around here because you work so hard!" Of course, the barrage of questions came from Tifa.

"I'm doing good. Artemis says hi**. Nope, I'm still free as a bird (Vincent got a bit happier at that). My books are all good. Just trying to get the right inspiration. Pirates of the Caribbean only worked for three chapters. I've just basically been sitting around brooding, trying to get inspiration, cooking, and writing. Not much more than that. Oh yeah, and I went out raving last week so you should be happy for me." Yuffie answered all this fluidly as if she had been answering Tifa's multi-question challenges all her life. And as far as Vincent knew, she had.

"Oh yes, there's someone I want you to meet. He's a fellow little friend I've met who's a huge fan of you. He's a little gothy too, but everyone has a little gothic in them. They just need to read a little of Mr. Poe to truly bring them out. VINCENT! Get over here, that Kisaragi is here." Vincent shyly got out of his seat; the better part of the café was already watching him. Walking over to her, he could feel her looking at what he was wearing. He was wearing a loose black shirt with the first button undone, a pair of baggy black pants with glow-in-the-dark rims around the pockets, and combat boots. She extended a hand to him, which she shook a bit too enthusiastically. 

"Thank you so much for reading my books. It makes me so happy to know that people actually read those pieces of crap." Yuffie blurted, a bit of red hinting her cheeks. Vincent stared at her.

"I don't think your books are crap. In fact, 'Bleeding Roses' is probably the best book I've ever read." Vincent said surely.

"Y-you really mean that?" Yuffie stuttered. Vincent nodded in quick affirmation. 

"Of course. Nowhere else would I have come across the idea of that magic system you called 'materia' in the 'Final Fantasy' collection. That was pure genius.' Vincent had to stop himself before re rambled too far as he could see that Yuffie was getting redder at the moment.

Tifa smirked.

"Well, as much as I'd love to sit you both down and have you talk about everything under the sin, it is now 7:58 and you have a book signing in two minutes." Yuffie's eyes widened as she realized just what time it was.

"Oh gawd! Thanks Tif, you really saved me on this one. But you know what would save me more? A-"

"Cup of green tea," Tifa cut in. "I know you too well. So I'll be right back with it. And I think that my assistant, Tanya, has already set up your table so you're good to go."

Vincent opened his mouth.

"And before you can say anything, Vincent. Your coffees on the house. I'll get double business today so id won't really matter."

Vincent closed his mouth and Yuffie opened hers.

"And your tea's on the house as well, Yuffie. You _are _my guest of honor."

Yuffie closed her mouth. Tifa just smirked, grabbed Vincent's empty mug, and stalked off towards the kitchen.

"Damn…how does she do that?" They both breathed out at the same time. The looked at each other strangely for a second and a half, shrugged, and walked over to the signing table. Tifa just watched them and smirked once more. This was going to be easier than she thought.

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End of Chapter 2. YAYNESS! I'm really proud of this. The ending came out a little weird to me because my parents kicked me off the computer and I had to write it by hand, but I really like the whole body part of it. Oh yeah, and ze stars.

*-If you've ever read the Darwin awards, you'll know than some men just _don't _seem to take care of themselves OR their family jewels. I've read some INTERESTING stories in those books.

**- Artemis is the name of my deceased cat. I had to include him in here since I love him so much. He was pure white (interesting for a Goth to be keeping around) with baby blue eyes, and pink ears with a pink nose. He was also a shorthaired breed. I'm going to stop before I cry now….

ANYWAY~

I spent about three solid hours on this fic, so TELL ME THE FRUITS OF MY LABOUR! REVIEW! Don't be afraid, it's all good. And if you flame me, I will post them up everywhere so people can laugh at you, and I'll personally take a chapter to discuss it. If you give me constructive criticism, then I'll take it in stride and probably follow your advice. BIG DIFFERENCE!

Well, I'll see you all in Chapter 3!

Peaceout.


	3. What are you WEARING underneath that?

First of all, I want to deeply thank my first reviewer, DarkKittie3. That review meant SO much to me, and it's given me the drive to get this chapter our early. If no one but one person read one of my stories, I'd write it for that one person if I were appreciated for it. Soo, without further ado, here's theeeeeee…disclaimer.

I don't own FFVII or anything else mentioned in this fic that doesn't belong to me…err…doesn't belong to me.

I'm re-posting this because I saw WAY too many mistakes when I was reading it over.

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"Yuffie! Darling! You look wonderful!" A man shouted from the entrance of the shop, and everyone turned around to look at him, Vincent and Yuffie especially. A man in a tacky blue suit (TURKS FOREVER…Just ignore me now…) and flaming red hair waltzed into the shop and threw an arm around Yuffie, much to her disturbance. Spinning on one heel, she removed his arm from her shoulder and glared at him with as much venom as one person can muster. Mumbling something about 'beating the shit out of him if he tried that again', she sighed and turned to Vincent.

"Vincent, this is my editor Reno, Reno, this is my friend Vincent." The two men held out hands to shake, eyeing each other carefully. After about two seconds of 'hand shaking', Reno began to wince. After about four seconds, Vincent began to wince, and so on until Tifa came out and pulled them apart, talking about immature men while Yuffie merely nodded in the background. At least Vincent had the decency to look a little sheepish, while Reno just went back to his 'car salesmen attitude'. 

"Well, as much as I'd like to stay for this…book signing thing…or whatever, I've got to run. So I'll see you later.  And we can discuss the next one of your books to put up on sale." And with that, he and his tacky blue suit left before anyone could do anything. Vincent stared after him like he had some kind of strange deformity.

"What is WRONG with that guy," he asked, not quite understanding why her editor was such a jackass. Yuffie just sighed again and looked towards the direction he had left.

"Well, when I made my first book, I was little strapped for cash, and he was the only person willing to do the job for the amount of money that I could give. Now, I, I'd say I'd regret this, but life's too short to sit there regretting everything you did. So, I'll just say that now I'm trying to find a new editor." Yuffie finished off and exhaled a breath. Vincent was about to open his mouth when the 7th Heaven Café's doors opened, and about ten people walked in, each carrying a copy of 'Bleeding Roses'. Yuffie immediately went to her post and Vincent stood in front of the table with his book out. Already, the line behind him was getting pretty long and Vincent was surprised. It _was _an amazing book. It was then where Tifa decided to cut the line so that she could give Yuffie her cup of green tea.

"One cup of green tea, prepared just the way you like it." Tifa announced. Yuffie took a small break in trying to modestly find a way to sit down in her skirt, and took a sip of the tea. Much to Tifa's delight, she smiled a very Yuffie-esque grin.

"Xie xie," Yuffie said in Mandarin Chinese, and finally sat down, smoothing out her skirt, with her mug of green tea next to her. Vincent, not knowing what she said, placed his book down in front of her and smiled. Yuffie smiled at him in return. Tifa smirked like an evil babysitter that just caught the girl and her boyfriend.

"Want me to write anything special in it?" Yuffie asked. Vincent grinned at this one.

"Write something incredibly hilarious in it." He announced. Yuffie raised an eye-brow, but began scribbling nonetheless. After a few seconds of writing, she handed his book back to him and smiled.

"I wrote something incredibly hilarious for you." She smiled as she said that and picked up her pen once more. It was then that Vincent finally got the courage to ask her the question that had been going through is mind for a while. 

"Umm…I was wondering if…after this…we could…umm that is…meet somewhere for a late lunch or an early dinner?" He stuttered out, obviously not used to asking girls out. Yuffie smiled, and it seems as if the corners of her swirling black eye-makeup were smiling with her. 

"I'd like that" She answered, and he scribbled down his cell phone number on a scrap piece of paper, bid her one last good-bye, and walked out of the 7th Heaven Café. 

            As soon as he had gotten a fair distance away, he opened to the front cover of his book to see what she had written.

"The scientist drove into his driveway, expecting to just go home and fall asleep. It had been a tiring day. He looked out into his front yard and saw one of his experiments sitting there in the front yard with nothing but a towel on. Frustrated and aggravated, he stormed out onto the grass to get some answers.

'What are you doing here,' he shouted. The experiment looked at him blankly

'I don't know.' It answered.* The professor placed a hand to his head as he felt a migraine coming along. 

'What are you WEARING under that,' he finally exclaimed. The experiment looked at him coyly.

'Practically nothing.' **

Love~ That Kisaragi aka: Yuffie K. " Next to that in loopy calligraphy was her signature and a small happy face. Vincent had to truly laugh at that, so much that the hobo that asked him for a dollar seventy-four stayed away from him. This truly was good day for Dr. Valentine.

--2:50 p.m.-- --Valentine's Apartment –

Vincent was zoned out in front of the TV (thank goodness for days off) when the familiar song of  'KRWLNG' (Gotta love Reanimation) started playing on his cell phone. Humming to it for a second, he finally picked up, still playing the song in his head.

"Hello, this is Valentine." He said formally. You never know when your co-workers decided to call you out of the blue.

"Hey Vincent, it's me Yuffie," her voice said from the other line. 

"Oh, hey Yuffie, when are you going to be ready?" he asked.

"I'm just about ready, so where should I meet you?"

Vincent smiled, unbeknownst to her. 

"I'll meet you there. I got reservations for somewhere cool."

"Well, that would be really out of your way to come pick me up. You don't have to tell me where, but can you at least give me somewhere close by that I can meet you?" Vincent sighed. It probably would just be easier that way since it was pretty far.

"Meet me at the entrance to the Farmer's Market in Union Square."

"Alright see you there. Bye!" 

"Good-bye" And with that they both hung up. Vincent grabbed his keys, turned off the kitchen light, and walked out of his apartment. His first stop, the Flower Shop run by a young girl named Aerith. His second stop, the subway. He was going to go to Union Square because Vincent Valentine had reservations to one of the best restaurants out there. Dr. Valentine was taking that Kisaragi to Chikama.

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Ok…this chapter didn't come out as good as I wanted it to, but what can I say. At least I got it out. I have real inspiration for this story so, if all goes well, it can be finished before the school year starts for me. If all _doesn't_ go well, then it will be done when I can get around to it. 

*- This comment was gotten from my cousin

**- This comment was gotten from my bestest friend. And I think it's from Robin Hood: Men In Tights.

So yeah, I hope anyone who reads this will enjoy this. Also, I'm searching for a beta reader for this story. Most likely someone who is really FFVII oriented. That'd be awesome if someone could since I overlook a lot of things.

Oh…and as a side note…RE-ANIMATION ROCKS! It's probably my favorite out of all of Linkin Park's CD's…

Ok…now here's the REAL side note. I don't live in New York, but I do live in Connecticut, and I live 45 minutes away from New York City, which is always cool. So I think that my information is correct. But, if someone out there is a true New Yorker and I made a mistake, please tell me and I'll fix it as soon as possible. Oh yeah, and I know of Chikama being a really high-class restaurant because my sisters and I stumbled in there after walking around all day and not eating. So we went in hoping it'd be quaint and inexpensive and saw people walking in-in formal gowns. Needless to say, it was a good thing that mom gave us her credit card to pay for dinner because the bill was well over a hundred dollars. 

Good night-Good Fight

R&R is always good!


	4. Dinner For Two: Part One

Ahaha, here I am once again with chapter…*checks* umm…CHAPTER 4 (Wow..I've gone this long without getting completely uninspired by this fic…must be a new record or something).  I just saw S.W.A.T. and the movie was pretty good…but VERY unrealistic. Either rent it or watch it if there's nothing else to see. *shakes out head* Now…I shall write chapter 4…but first…Mr. Disclaimer has come to town…

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII…Chikama…or anything else that OBVIOUSLY doesn't belong to me.  So pooey on you!

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            Vincent could clearly see Yuffie in the crowd of colors. Her black clothes and attitude stuck out like a sore thumb. She happened to be looking at some fresh mangos; which some greasy man was trying to sell to her with all his 'salesperson charm'. 

"Yes, yes, good. You buy fruits. They is very good. Good fruits for cheap. Yes, very good." He kept goading her on until she finally had to walk away, giving him a signal with her middle finger that she wasn't interested. Vincent took that moment to walk up to her. Passing by the shocked man, he stepped in front of her and gave her a slight smile.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" He asked, putting out an elbow for her. She hooked her arm around his in a response.

"Read as I'll ever be."

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THE END!

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…..Just kidding

===

3:17 P.M. Union Square – Chikama

===

"Vincent, you should have told me that this was such a high-class place. I would have went home and put on some decent clothes."  Yuffie exclaimed as she was escorted to a seat in the lavish restaurant. Vincent blushed a light pink color.

"I think you look great just the way you are." He averted his eyes and stared at the couple walking in. Yuffie smirked.

"Are you coming on to me Mr. Valentine?" Vincent blushed a heavy crimson and began to pay more attention to his napkin holder than the woman in front of him. Yuffie just laughed.

"Don't worry, you won't have to answer that….yet." Her melodious laughter was swept through the restaurant as she saw Vincent's expression. Vincent suddenly looked up and smiled at Yuffie as he seemed to regain his former confidence.

"That's Dr. Valentine, if you will." He stated, and watched as her face contorted from laughter to shock.

"You're a DOCTOR?" She exclaimed, loud enough to make her surprise evident but quiet enough so that she wouldn't disrupt the restaurant. Vincent smiled proudly.

"The result of years of Medical School." He stated, and Yuffie broke out into a very Yuffie-esque grin once again.

"Say…this could work in my favor. Do you think that you can walk around in bloody white doctor uniforms while I'm writing my horror stories?" Yuffie asked with complete innocence. Vincent sat there shocked that Tifa was the one who had suggested that same exact thing. Suddenly, a thought came to Vincent.

"I just need to know, do you do your own art, because the rose on the cover of 'Bleeding Roses' is absolutely beautiful." Vincent inquired. Yuffie smiled a bit to herself as if she were remembering something.

"I can't draw for shit. My friend Nanaki did it for me. He's really tribal and shit, knowing about eighteen dead languages, living with his grandfather, descendent of some great Indian Warrior named Seto, wears moccasins, the whole nine yards. But I guess all the years of making tribal paintings have paid off because he's an AMAZING artist and he doesn't stuff like this for me for free, so I find that really awesome. If you are ever walking around 56th and Lexington, you'll probably see him walking around. He doesn't live anywhere near there but he loves walked there for some reason. Not to mention I think maybe he got a job there or something. You can't miss him, he always wears this feather band around his head that belonged to his father, and we rocks moccasins like nobody else can. He's really cool, I should introduce you sometime…but I'm babbling now, aren't I?" Yuffie finally paused to take a break and took a sip of water. Vincent shook his head in a negative motion.

"I don't think your babbling at all. I like to know things about people," he said seriously. Yuffie looked at him.  
  


"I guess I'm just not used to talking so much about things like this…I'm more used to being big sister and helping everyone else out." She sighed. Vincent looked at her seriously.

"Well, now it's time for me to be the big brother*. I want to hear more about you. You're a very interesting person." Yuffie blushed a deep crimson as Vincent said this in all seriousness.

"Well…I-" Vincent cut her off.

"Well you, nothing. It's ok to let loose once and a while and let someone else take charge.**" If possible, Yuffie blushed even harder, yet was still able to meet Vincent's eyes.

  
"Thank you," she barely whispered out. "You have no idea what this means to me." Vincent looked surprised, if nothing else.

"What…I mean..how..but….how?" He managed to stutter out. No one had ever made him feel like he had made such an impact on their life. Looking at the woman across from him, he noticed the mix of anger and sadness in her eyes.

"I'm just the lonely Goth that always has problems. They'll send me to a therapist who will sit there and tell me everything that's wrong with me, and then they tell me it's just a phase and that I'll get over it. Well, now I'm older and it's not just a phase, but I'm still just that tortured little Goth that has so many problems that no one even cares anymore." Yuffie looked down at her glass of water, lost in it's icy depths. Vincent, took all this information and felt nothing but sympathy for the young girl. Yet, he had to ask.

"Who is 'they'?" He questioned, and saw her visibly stiffen.

"Can we just…not talk about this right now." Vincent took the hint, and dropped the subject immediately. 

"So then-" Yuffie started.

  
"Yeah…" Vincent finished.

Well this was sure going to be eventful.

~^*^~~^*^~~^*^~~^*^~~^*^~

Ok…well the first real cliffy that I left you all with. I would have updated this yesterday, I really would have, but I was stuck in the blackout. I know I would have updated because I had bits and pieces of this fic swimming around my head. I am sooo tired so I'm going to cut the chapter short and finish the rest of it another day. Hope you all don't kill me for that ^.~

*: Someone (a boy, obviously) said this to me in a conversation once and I was all like "SQUEE!" hehehe, I'm so stupid.

**: People ALWAYS tell this to me. I'm the maternal kind of person that takes care of everyone. That's why I'm writing this chapter at 2:20 in the morning for you people. You like it, so I'll sacrifice sleep to get it done ^^. I'm so good @-@

Anyway, I'm going to make another shameless plug for the song "So Ha" by Splashdown. Hehehe, excellent song. 

I'm also going to make some shameless plugs for random Yuffentines I've read, because some of the stories are just *gasp* wow!

Sink To The Bottom With You   by, Catalina 

My review: This story is *gulp* AMAZING! Catalina has thought up an awesome plot, properly balanced out with humor and romance. A very good read, but it's very long so make sure your dedicated and have time on your hands.

Sunshine In Winter     by, Guardian1

My review: This story made me CRY! LIKE A FOOL! AT TWO IN THE MORNING! This is one of the best stories that has EVER graced Fanfiction.Net. It's just so….wonderful and amazing. Again, a long read so make sure that your dedicated, but other than that, READ IT!

Ok, that's all for now, time to thank the nice reviewers. I'm just going to do all of them that I got because I can't remember if I did any yet….Yeah…I'm so good.

DarkKittie3: Thank you so much, that was just the inspiration I needed to keep me going for the next three chapters ^^

StarVixen: DIE AVIRL, DIE! WE MUST BAND TOGETHER TO DESTROY HER MORTAL SOUL! Oh yeah, LINKIN PARK RULES! W00T! Ok..now that I've gotten that out of my system (mm…Chester)…Thank you kindly for the compliment. Means a lot to me.  ^^

Nastu-Aoki: It popped up…from HEELLL!! Actually, it just came from the mind of a bored thirteen year old that has nothing better to do than clean the house. Thank you for the kick ass comment. I appreciate it SO SO SO much. *grins*

Brian, Dark Emotionless Shadow: Well, I can agree that there wasn't _that _much emotion in the review, but I loved it nonetheless. It makes me happy to know that people read this and actually think it's **interesting**. Shibbity Shway ^^

Alx 91: Er…don't worry, I am.

Kapen Youth (for both your reviews since they're right next to each other): Why yes…I am a Goth aren't I…hehe. The Darwin Awards are hilarious. I have both the books, it's worth the read. Thanks for reviewing on both chapters. Yeah, and I did get 'goodnight, good fight' from Celebrity Deathmatch. Is that show still airing? I haven't watched TV in almost a year. 

Angel280: YYYEEESSS!! I GOTS ME A VINCENT DOOLL!!! W00T! I don't know how I got this unhealthy love for Yuffie/Vincent…but oh well. I'm glad you like this, I'm not to proud on how my chapters are coming out, but hey, your worst critic is yourself. Most of my writing has a gothic feel to it, but that's just my nature. Hehe, I feel all  happy now *huggles Vincent doll*. 

Jinx: I'm glad you like this. I feel really special now that you said you usually don't like AU. I guess I was just trying to keep this story a bit more…realistic. Because I know that if Vincent didn't go through the whole 'Lucrecia' schmuck, he would have been a lot happier, and if Yuffie had to live with the constant torture that she did of being called a brat etc…she would have fallen into the Gothic Subculture. Almost the same reason why I did. I'm glad you think this is well written because I feel like I've been pulling these chapters 'out of my ass' ^^.

KitsuneDewAddict: FFVII is an awesome game….That one part that Yuffie wrote was nagging at me for days. My friend said it to me and I just knew that I had to find a place to put it. I thought that one part was from Robin Hood: Men In Tights, because that was what my friend was watching when she told it to me. It's reviews like this that keep me writing.

Oh yes, and an announcment to all those who want to volunteer to beta/already asked to beta. Before I make my decision, I just want to tell you what I'd be expecting, because I make a lot of minor mistakes that I often overlook. 

I would need you to be able to fix grammatical and spelling errors that I missed I would need you to tell me ANYTHING that seems unclear, rushed, or unrealistic (I'm trying to get this as real as possible) I would need some kind of message or something telling me what I should fix along the way in my writing. 

If someone can do all this for me….I'll be their best friend forever. And as for KitsuneDewAddict and Jinx, who already asked, you can e-mail me or leave your answer in a review. To all else…go ahead. People…I love you all, but I must sleep as it is almost three in the morning. 

Ta ta for now…

  
~GothicDJ

P.S: This is not spell checked or looked over. I am too tired to bother.


	5. Dinner For Two: Part Two

Hello again. I'm back from the depths of hell to bring you another chapter. It's probably not going to be that good since I'm not in too great a mood. All I really need right now is a good cry and I'll be all right. Anyway, here is chapter five. I'll thank all my reviewers and select my beta reader at the end of the chapter…damn I'm being formal.

  
Anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except the plot. I will take this game off of Square's hands, though.

Big thing here, in the last chapter, I spelled Chicama wrong. Please disregard that.

-------

Last time: 

"Who is 'they'?" He questioned, and saw her visibly stiffen.

"Can we just…not talk about this right now." Vincent took the hint, and dropped the subject immediately. 

"So then-" Yuffie started.

  
"Yeah…" Vincent finished.

Well this was sure going to be eventful.

**=-=-=-=-=-=**

"Who is 'they'?" He questioned, and saw her visibly stiffen.

"Can we just…not talk about this right now." Vincent took the hint, and dropped the subject immediately. 

"So then-" Yuffie started.

  
"Yeah…" Vincent finished.

Well this was sure going to be eventful.

** -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=**

Vincent idly watched the contents of his glass of Sprite hiss. After the 'they' comment, there had seemed to be a colder aura over Yuffie; something that seemed unusual for such a bright girl like her. Just as he was about to open his mouth to start the conversation up once again, the waitress bounced over to the table. Literally. Yuffie suddenly found that she didn't like the waitress, but decided to be civil anyway so that she wouldn't get spit in her food. 

"Hello! Welcome to Chicama! I'll be your waitress Samantha*. May I take your orders?" Vincent, being the perfect gentlemen that he is, held out his hand as a gesture for Yuffie to go first. (I'm going to be making the menu up since I can't remember what is for the life of me. It's been a damn long time since I've been there.)

"Um…I'll have the Chili Fried Shrimp for an appetizer, and then I'll have the Sautéed Duck for a main course. Thank you." Yuffie closed her menu and handed it to the waitress, who plucked it out of her hands quite rudely. Yuffie scowled at her, but let it pass…for now. The waitress then turned to Vincent, whom she treated with much more respect even though he seemed to come from the same 'pack' as her. Well at least we now know that the waitress has nothing against alternatives. 

"And what will you have, sir?" She asked in the most candy-sweet voice she could muster. Vincent just rolled his eyes and ordered a salad and some chicken. The waitress made sure she lingered in taking his menu away, and leaned over fully so he could get a full view of her cleavage. He looked at her blankly.

"I'm a doctor. I can see that any time I want without having someone shoving it in my face like that."* Samantha's (I couldn't write 'the waitress' again) face turned bright red as she quickly turned on her heel and left the table. Yuffie stared at Vincent in disbelief.

"I can't believe that you said that to her. She'll probably equally distribute spit amongst your food now." Vincent shrugged. 

"There are billions of germs in human saliva. If she does that and I somehow get sick from it, I can sue her and this establishment for more money than I make a year, and I'm a doctor." Yuffie nodded in understanding. That was very true. Vincent continued his speech, though.

"And if she spits in your food, and you get sick, I can be the doctor that vouches for you." He smiled and Yuffie felt herself going red. Was this guy hot or what? (All you Vincent fan girls know what I'm talking about when you see him smile in a pic or doujinshi) Just as Vincent was about to say something incredibly charming that only Vincent could think up (Hence the reason I'm not writing it), the waitress came back, a scowl on her face, 

"One order of Chili Fried Shrimp and one Caesar Salad." After placing down the orders, she walked off before anyone could say anything.

"Well…that was interesting…" Yuffie trailed off.

"Quite." Vincent responded slowly, starting to work on his salad as Yuffie picked up her fork and knife. They were silent for a moment until Yuffie finally had to make a point about her meal.

"This is really bloody gross. There's friggin' heads on this shrimp and that's not cool." She averted her eyes to Vincent's safe looking salad as he looked up and grinned at her.

"Would you like me to amputate them?" He asked, such innocence in his voice. Yuffie looked at his as you would look at an older brother who was being incredibly stupid.

"If you mean remove the heads, then sure." She handed him her plate over the table and he moved his over so that it would fit, and began ampu---err…cutting the heads off. Yuffie watched in mild amusement as he carefully measured out where he should cut, and cut it off slowly, as if performing a real operation. She had to laugh lightly at that.

"This isn't a heart transplant, yanno. You can just hack it off if you want to. As long as I don't have to see shrimp heads, I'm fine." Just as she said that, Vincent 'amputated' the last head, and wrapped them all in a napkin to leave for the waitress. He passed her, her plate back and moved his own salad back to his spot, only to see a chunk of his salad gone. He looked up as Yuffie grinned and wiped away a bit of Caesar dressing. Not to be outdone, Vincent grabbed a shrimp from her plate and stuck it in his mouth whole, chewing triumphantly.

"All is fair in food and war," he said, grabbing a few pieces of lettuce on his fork. 

"If so," Yuffie countered, "then that chicken you ordered sounded mighty tasty. If all is fair, I might just grab myself of piece of it." She grinned as she saw his flustered look as he had his own remark thrown back at him. Dr. Valentine never let himself get caught in a situation, so he chose a new topic that might tip it in his favor. 

"Has anyone ever told you that you could become a lawyer? You can certainly argue and use facts like one." He said, watching as she blushed heavily. Tifa was really the only one that ever sat there and pointed out all her good points. 

"Yeah…Tifa did once. That was when we were arguing over the best kind of household pet. She said dogs, I said cats, and I ended up winning by some divine power. It was quite fun, though…." She trailed off as if remembering it and Vincent respected her state of mind, and began finishing his salad. 

            Yuffie was mixing the excess sauce in her plate when she suddenly looked up at Vincent, a strange glint in her eye.

"This has been really wonderful. I just want to really thank you for all of this…"Once again, she trailed off, staring intently at Vincent. A light blush stained Vincent's cheeks but he didn't dare break eye contact.

"I feel the same way. I really-" He was cut off as the waitress stormed over to the table.

"Your sautéed duck, your chicken. Have a nice meal." She said this in a snooty voice and you could tell she didn't mean it. But the mood had been ruined and there was nothing left to say. The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence.

------------

I was stalling for the LONGEST time in getting this chapter out. So now, I knew that I had to get it out before FF.NET had its little management thinga mabobber. So now, I finally have this chapter out, and I'll probably gone all day tomorrow, so it's best I have it out tonight.

First things first, let me thank all my reviewers!

  
Prochoice: --------

Kapen Youth: I don't watch TV anymore, but Celebrity Deathmatch was a great show. Too bad. Your welcome for the mention, and while I'm at it, here's another!

Ruri-Sugar: Thanks! I don't know how I got it…but yeah…it just kinda bit me. Thanks for reviewing!

KitsuneDewAddict: Keep writing? That I shall. The beta will be announced at the bottom.

Alx 91: *throws you a rope* Falling off cliffs isn't fun. I kinda sorta did that once. I always take advice to heart. It's just…one of those things I do. Sure, your friend can use my idea. That'd be kinda cool, as long as it isn't copied off of anything. But, if your friend does make it, I want to be able to read it! I'm glad I'm getting faithful reviewers. I pretty much lost off of them on 'The Game Queen And Then Some: Sequel', so this makes me especially happy! And as for getting more reviews: I believe I get what I deserve, and all of the ones I'm getting are more than enough for me!

Chaos Child: Mmm…two in the morning. That's always a good time to write reviews. I always have spelling errors and stuff though, so that's not cool.

And now, the moment of truth, I have decided my beta readers. I found two who I'd seen use very good writing and grammar in their reviews and stories, so they were the ones that I picked. I am just asking them at 12:16 at night if they still will, and if they can't, there are others whom I could definitely use help from.

Here they are:

To beta the first five chapters I've put up: Jinx

To beta the next chapters after this: KitsuneDewAddict  (If you see this before I get to e-mail you, since I can't tonight, FF.NET was doing that "Not responding" crap, so I couldn't get your e-mail addy ^^;;)

For the ones out there that didn't get picked (yet...they might decline), I humbly dedicate this chapter to you *bows*. I thank you all for being so nice as to volunteer for this. It's a great help to me, and it gives me the incentive to write more, as I know people are reading this.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! I WILL HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!


	6. Here's your chance, so take it or I'll k...

Before anything, I should have you all know that ff.net is screwing up and I'm not getting my alerts when I get reviews for my story. *Pouts*

Welcome all…to the mysterious and alluring CHAPTER SIX!

Well…actually, the muse in my head is telling me that there is NOTHING mysterious or alluring about this chapter. This is where I smack myself in my head a couple of times, hoping that the recoil will hurt the muse.

Please excuse the intermission while I smack myself repeatedly. *Elevator music plays*

……..

Ok, I'm back and still alive.

Oh, and I have a special message for Chester Bennington *like he's reading my little crap story*

PLEASE DON'T DIE! I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH! YOU HAVE TOO MANY FANS THAT WILL STEAL YOUR CORPSE AND CONVERT TO NECROPHILIA FOR YOU! DON'T DIE! 

And if by some strange cosmos that any member of Linkin Park is reading this (I seriously doubt it) I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Ahem…with that over with. I do want to say that school JUST started. On Sept. 2, 2003, I started my first day of eighth grade. Now I'm just waiting for a magical talking cat to come and tell me that I'm a sailor scout. I mean…it did happen to Usagi-Chan while she was in the eighth grade. Never fear, my ramblings have a plot. Because school is starting, I will have little to no time to update. I'm already getting freaked out at how serious my teachers are about making sure work is done. They scare me. I just want to go to French and LEAVE the eighth grade. Anyway, once History Day starts, that's it, there will be no time whatsoever to update this story. Sadly, History Day studies will start in a month or so, and that will be it. So I'm trying to get in all the chapters I can before History Day starts. *sigh*

I can't stand school sometimes.

Anyway, Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or anything mentioned in this fic that doesn't belong to me (this is getting_pretty _repetitive.)

I also want to thank my beta reader for these chapters: KitsuneDewAddict. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Previously:

"I feel the same way. I really-" He was cut off as the waitress stormed over to the table.

"Your sautéed duck, your chicken. Have a nice meal." She said this in a snooty voice and you could tell she didn't mean it. But the mood had been ruined and there was nothing left to say. The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence.

=-=-=-=-=-=-

            Upon his insistence, Vincent had picked up the bill, insisting that it was his treat. They left the high-class restaurant around four-thirty, so the sky was beginning to slowly change colors, and a bit of red could be seen in the horizon. The walked down the area of the Union Square Farmer's Market where they had met up earlier in a comfortable silence, laughing a bit when the saw a cop yell at a bystander for riding his bike in a 'Bike Walking Only'* zone. 

            Finding happiness in the comfortable silence they were walking in, they only realized how far they had walked when they heard the familiar sound of protesters in Union Park. Walking around the park, they struggled to find a bench that either wasn't taken by strange men with dresses on, or passed out homeless people. They finally settled on sitting next a woman who was reading a book and wearing what looked like a bed sheet and some crushed soda cans. Yuffie placed her hand over Vincent's.

"I really did have a lot of fun. It's been a while since I've actually had a guy take me out to lunch…or dinner…or whatever you want to call this." Vincent smiled his ever so charming smile.

"I think I'd call it…linner" He said, watching as Yuffie's eyes danced as she laughed.

"Or maybe dunch." She suggested, and they both laughed as the woman next to them began talking to the squirrel a few feet a way from her. Their laughter was short lived as a homeless man walked up to them, looking at them with pleading eyes.

"Does anyone have a dollar eighty-seven they can spare so a man can get some trinkets?" He asked with a gravelly voice. Yuffie and Vincent stared at him.

"Umm…I can give you two dollars instead, would that be all right?" Vincent asked, beginning to take out his wallet. The homeless man looked downright appalled.

"I don't want your damn TWO DOLLARS for my trinkets! I need a dollar eighty-seven." That night, the homeless man sat down on the ground, as Vincent and Yuffie laughed their heads off while trying to sort out a dollar eighty-seven from the change they had in their pockets.**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Vincent and Yuffie had long since found a dollar eighty-seven from their pockets, and were walking next to each other in the park, hands lingering near other. They were close enough to feel comfortable and know that the other wasn't holding back. Vincent decided that he would try and start the conversation.

"You know, if you're looking for a different editor and publisher, I might be able to help you out. My friend just finished his own publishing business about a year or so ago, and now he's just looking for someone to give him a book to do." Vincent finished, looking at Yuffie for a second. Yuffie had her very Yuffie-esque smile as she looked at Vincent hopefully.

"You could really do that for me? I don't care who it is; this person is _must _be better than Reno. You don't know how many times that guy has tried to make a pass on me. It's getting kind of disgusting now. He reminds me of a used car salesman." Vincent had to laugh at that, as he did find Reno to remind him of used car salesman.

"He's my friend Cloud. Quite likeable, and he has gravity defying hair." Little did Yuffie know, that Vincent wasn't exaggerating when he said that.

"He sounds cool. I'd be really glad to have anyone but Reno do that job for me." Yuffie breathed. It seemed that Vincent's offer took load of her chest. Vincent seemed a bit happier that she had accepted. It wouldn't have been cool if he threw his offer out in the open, and she rejected it just like that.

_Point number one to Vincent. Level one completed. Now onto level two. Making sure you see her tomorrow. _Vincent seemed to have his little victory in his head, and he counted it off like a video game. That's what happens when your twenty-seven and you've been playing video games all your life.***

"Well, I'll give him a call tonight. I'm sure he'll be ecstatic," Vincent said, and Yuffie silently nodded her head. Not really in an agreement, but just a subconscious action. They walked a bit more, before Yuffie turned to Vincent, a small smile playing on her lips.

"It's getting pretty late," she checked her watch, which read 10:49, "so I think I'm going to skiddadle back home for tonight." Vincent nodded, looking down at his own watch. 

"Yeah, it is getting pretty late. I have surgery tomorrow so I guess I'd better go." Vincent said in agreement to her. 

_Now's your chance, dumbass! Ask her out again, _Vincent's subconscious yelled at him, and Vincent cleared his throat.

"Umm…I was wondering if you wanted to go out for lunch or something again this week?" He asked, a bit of red once again tinting his cheeks.

"Sure, I'd love to," Yuffie replied, her pale cheeks getting the lightest hint of rose to them.

"Umm…so…"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I guess I'll see you later or something. I have your cell phone number so I'll call you or something. Or here, since I don't want to have to disturb you in the emergency room, so here's my phone number." Grabbing a spare receipt, she jotted down her number with her Badtz Maru pen, and handed it to him. Vincent took the receipt and turned it onto the back.

"Goodwill?" he asked, slightly amused. Who didn't go to Goodwill once or twice in their life for a Halloween costume prop or something?

"What? I alter clothes for a hobby, and goodwill has some great stuff there to rip up. I got a fifty dollar Victorian dress there." She replied, a bit miffed that he insulted one of her favorite places to get clothes to alter. Vincent put his hands up in the universal sign of 'I surrender'. 

"Hey, I was just wondering." He said, not wanting to get his ass kicked. Her bio did say that she had mastered several forms of martial arts.

"It's not like I'm going to go to Lord and Taylor and pay four hundred dollars for a shirt, only to rip it up." She nodded smartly, and Vincent smiled a bit.

"Understood." They both laughed lightly at that. Suddenly, Vincent had sounded surprisingly like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Finally, Yuffie put up her hand a hailed a taxi.

"I had a lot of fun, I can't wait to do it again." She stood on her tiptoes and lightly pressed a kiss to Vincent's cheek. Vincent blushed a heavy crimson, but before he could say anything, she had slipped into the taxi and it was already pulling off the curb. What he didn't know was that Yuffie was sitting in the backseat blushing as much, if not, more than he.

            Vincent stood there shocked for a moment, then pulled out his cell phone. Dialing a number, he waited a few rings before a slightly groggy voice answered the phone.

"..blalow?" Cloud answered, as he had just been falling asleep when the phone started blaring next to him. Vincent chuckled.

"Hello Cloud, as alert as ever, I hear." Vincent mused, and he could hear Cloud make a noise of protest, trying to explain that he had just been falling asleep, but Vincent cut him off halfway.

"I got you a book."

Inside his head, Vincent's subconscious was singing and dancing.

_SCORE!_

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

School stinks and it's taking up my time. So...updates are going to be REALLY slow these days. Sorry all, but I'm trying not to fail the 8th grade, so I'm going to have to pay more attention to my studies than this story.

Anyway, enough of my ranting, here's the little * things.

*My sister lives in New York, and in the Union Park Farmer's Market, a lot of people ride their bikes. Now, they have signs saying that you can only 'walk' your bike through, because there were too many people crashing into each other when they were all riding bikes.

**It's so much more fun to find three dollars and eighty-seven cents for the random hobo when you're with a friend. It's not as cool when you're by yourself.

***Uh oh, I'm starting to base the characters too much off of people I know. Vincent is slowly starting to get based off of my brother…gotta stop myself before I write something foolish.

This chapter took me about a day and half.

*yawns* I think I'm going to go take a nap *passes out*

Oh, and I was in NYC with my brother yesterday, and I found out that this chapter is KINDA inaccurate, but if I can stick in a non-existent café called "The Seventh Heaven" or make hobos ask for $1.87, I think I can mess things up just a little bit. ^^;;;

Damn….I can't die now, I got to do the reviewer thing. Please forgive me if I spell any of your names wrong, I'm pretty out of it.

CloudRox1- Ohh...I'm converting people to Yuffentinism now ^^. I feel all special like. I'm trying to write it with the faintest hint of realism. I've still got a LOT more character development to add in. I'm glad you like it! *waves a little flag* Gothyness is cool.

Yuffie-San- Cool name! *Grins* Too good to be true? *Uber-licious grins* That just about made my day. I used to read a lot of AU and I personally didn't like a lot of them. Most of them were high school fics, and that started grating on my nerves. So that's how I got the inspiration to write my own. They're a lot of fun; you should really try writing one. You don't have to worry about forgetting the name of the forbidden island named Gjjsuuuddkadsf, and can instead make it in Iowa. Or…somewhere else.

Natsu-Aoki- It's all good ^^ Yes yes, I shall continue *writes like mad*

Alx 91- Broken legs….owwies *get you a band-aid*.  Eh, my moods come and go with the time, so one minute I'm chipper, and the rest "the world is a dark and desolate place" and all that stuff. Hmm….I don't think I'm going to stop now. I'm in no mood to gather an unnatural fear of pitchforks over a fanfic ^^. Eh, I didn't bother answering Prochoice because I knew it wasn't worth my time. He/She should have learned the Golden Rule: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all, because someone who's not as nice as me will whoop your ass for it. Taking anything to an extremity isn't cool, so I keep my subculture, and do what I want as well….Sticking with a story until it's done is a good policy, and I will most likely finish this. This story has become my brainchild. *Inches away from pitchforks and starts typing*

Well, I believe that's all, folks. Have a wonderful life! *Passes out from exhaustion* 

And one more big round of applause to KitsuneDewAddict!! THANKS!


	7. What kind of hellish game is that?

AN: Okay okay…everyone gets one free hit on me for having to wait so long for this chapter. *holds out wrists* Ok…just..don't hit _too _hard.

*Receives slaps dutifully*

Ok…now that that is done…I'm FINALLY getting chapter seven done *dances* Hahaha….I'm all the way up to Chapter 7. I haven't gotten this far in a story without loosing interest. I feel mighty proud of myself at this point.

*yawn* School sucks. It's hard. And it prevents me from writing. Updates will be slow and at three in the morning. Do not be alarmed by this.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Are you happy now that you've crushed yet another little girl's childhood dreams?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Yuffie and Cloud sat in a modestly furnished office staring each other down. After an innocent conversation and some not-so-nice jokes about Yuffie's previous editor, Reno, they had created a horribly simple game, *Vocabulary.  The basics were that one person said a word, and the other defined it and return gave another word to define. It was basically a test of your vocabulary, as the name implied. 

"Who goes first?" Yuffie asked, geared and ready to verbally pound Cloud into the ground. Cloud shrugged.

"I guess rock, paper, scissors will decide that." He contributed. Yuffie nodded. 

            Balling their hands into fists, they shook them up and down three times whilst chanting 'rock, paper, scissors, shoot'. On shoot, Cloud put his palm up for paper and Yuffie made a gun with her hand and pretended to shoot through the paper.

"I win," she announced as innocently as possible. Cloud had an exasperated look but let her go first anyway. She was the guest of honor, after all, right?

"Gastronomy" Yuffie started off easily enough.

"The art of good eating. Waggish." Cloud smirked. Not many people knew what waggish meant.

"To enjoy playing practical jokes on people. Testator."

"A person who has written a will. Verdigris."

" The greenish coating that forms on copper or brass. Meretricious."

"Good looking in a flashy way. Ostracize." Had this been a physical fight, they both would have been panting heavily. But, Yuffie wanted to end this early and had a trick up her sleeve.

"To exile someone or something. Moniker."

"A slang for a person's name," Cloud smirked a bit. "Juxtapose." Yuffie smirked along with Cloud. Out of all the words she knew, she made sure that juxtapose would be one of them.

"To lay side by side. The." Cloud sat there. Did she know how hard it was to define the word 'the'. That was just crazy. Still, it was better to fail trying then to never try at all.

"The word 'the' is a definite article. It is an adjective that refers to someone or something. And…I'm all out of words." Yuffie sat there with a stunned expression on her face. Wasn't she the only person in the world besides Webster himself who could define the word 'the'.

"Aww…hell. That was supposed to be my grand winning word. Shoot, I'm just as stumped as you are. I am happy, though, that you're not as brain-dead as my previous editor. He probably wouldn't even know the definition to the word buncombe or know who Aristophanes was."

And together, in Cloud's office, they laughed. Whereas, the normal person would just sit there looking dumb as to whom Aristophanes was, not to mention a good portion of their conversation. **

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

            It had been one month since that day at a book signing that Dr. Vincent Valentine met That Kisaragi, and they hit it off quite well. They had met a considerable amount of times. Not to mention that Vincent was now undertaking the familiar junior high teasing from his colleagues ever since Yuffie had dropped by one day during his lunch hour to get his opinion on a paragraph that seemed a bit off to her.

"So, is she the new Mrs.?"

"How long you've been going out?"

"My my my. Mr. Asexual has gotten himself a girl. And a nice one at that."

"Piss off." Of course, this was from our favorite man, Mr. Valentine himself. And his co-workers would laugh and continue on their coffee break, once and while making a comment on the new 'little lady'.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

   One thing that Vincent loved…err…liked a lot about Yuffie was the fact that she could hold a conversation on pretty much any topic there was. It was as if she was given the gift of gab, but was able to use that gift to write as well as speak.

"So, Vincent. What's your opinion on the topic of legalizing marijuana?" Yuffie asked. Somehow their conversation had traveled from the their favorite team sport to whether or not certain drugs should be legalized.

"Personally, I think they should be legalized. Sure, you can get a crazy high from it, but from a doctor' point of view, they are excellent relaxants. They can help patients greatly when it comes to after-surgery pains." Vincent was always one for making sure that his patients were comfortable, so that was just one of the ways.

  
  


"Not even that," Yuffie stated, "but the fact that forbidden fruit is all the sweeter. The more we push and push to make these things completely off limits, the more people are going to strive to get them; for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons." Yuffie finished. Whenever this topic came up, she would use this same answer, and people would inadvertently come to see it from her side. It seemed to work as Vincent nodded his head and took a sip of his coffee. 

   They would regularly step into the 7th Heaven for a cup of coffee and pastry to talk about everything and nothing at all. Of course, Tifa would always welcome them in with open arms and once and a while make idle chitchat with them. Today, though, she could sense that they were completely engrossed in their conversation and decided to let them be for the time.

"But do you know what else should be legalized?" Vincent asked. ***"I think that it should be legalized to go trout fishing on the back of a giraffe in Idaho." Yuffie looked at him incredulously.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yuffie asked, surprised that she had said something so…un-Vincenty.

"No. It's a real law." He confirmed, looking at her expression. "I read it in this book, and it's just been one of those things that you remember. Like the name of your favorite anime artist." Yuffie had a strange expression on her face which was a cross between 'I didn't know that' and 'What the heck?"

"Say….who is your favorite anime artist?" Yuffie asked.

Vincent answered straight away. "Rumiko Takahashi. She can draw pretty much anything and already has. Not to mention she comes up with her own story lines." Yuffie nodded in understanding. 

"Me," Yuffie started, "I like Ai Yazawa. One of her more popular works is Paradise Kiss. She's another one who writes her own story lines, but her artwork is amazing. Most of her fight scenes are pretty comical but her character designs are beautiful." She hefted her messenger bag onto the table and showed him a rather large button of a cute girl with blue eyes and pink hair. Next to her was a boy with blonde hair and safety pins and piercings on his ears and face. True to her word, they were drawn beautifully.

"This is Miwako and Arashi. They are from Paradise Kiss, which is done by Ai Yazawa. And, as you can tell, I really love her art or else I wouldn't be lugging it around to create extra weight on this bag." Vincent laughed. He could tell her bag was heavy from the heavy 'thunk' it had made from when it landed on the table.

   Looking at the pin, he did realize that Yazawa was an amazing artist. He would have to check into this….

"What the hell. I leave you all for a second and come back to hear you both talking about cartoons?" Tifa slammed down her tray on the table scaring Yuffie, Vincent, and some of the nearby patrons. They snapped out of their shock in a split second, though, and looked absolutely mortified.

"It's not cartoons; it's anime!" Vincent and Yuffie said in unison then remembered their ages and went back to sipping their respective dreams. Tifa smirked, shrugged, and walked back to the kitchen.

   Trying to regain some of their former intelligence, Yuffie brushed off some of the imaginary lint from her shirt.

"So, have you been keeping track of the stock market lately?"

*************************************************************

Okay…my fingers hurt so here's the stars first:

*- I made this up in Social Studies after I finished a test. Don't blame me if it sounds crappy.

**-  *raises hands* I have no bloody clue what the hell I just typed. Other than that… I learned a new word….waggish. *grins*

***- That law was taken from "Uncle John's Ahhhh Inspiring Bathroom Reader". And yes…it is a real law. And so is the law that you can't fall asleep in a cheese factory in South Dakota.

With that said I would just like to thank all my beautiful reviewers *hugs them all and gives them mini-Vincent plushies*.

Alx 91: Hey, if your birthday is eight days before school starts, then you must be older than everyone when you get there, right? Unless…you're younger? I'd rather be younger since when we run the mile, the younger you are, the longer you get to run it. Very cool. Thanks for reviewing. I'll get on chapter eight as soon as I get a break from school.

Kapen Youth- Necrophelia is a fun word…hehehe…*high fives you* Eight grade, heck yeah! I shall make time to write this story now. *goes to the god of time to ask for some extra time to write this story* Thanks for reviewing! ^^

Rueacudarion-….I know I spelled that wrong…W00T! Four different people in the same review! *sips tea quietly* Update you want and update I shall ^^

Black_Frog- Thanks for liking my idea….and *coughs* of COURSE I look at my reviews. They are what keep me going and keep me from abandoning this story…which I hopefully will never have to resort to. Badtz Maru rocks. I used to have a notebook and a matching pen….they're gone now…….

Draw picture for my story? I'd be so happy if you did. I don't have anywhere to host them, so it would be REALLY cool if you could. Actually, I think I'm going to draw one and send it to people on demand…*thinks about this* 

KitsuneDewAddict- *mocking those 'do you know where your children are' PSAs* It's now 11:00, do you know where your reviews are?

Me: I KNOW! I KNOW! ON THE FF.NET THINGY! Oh yeah…I'm so good. Oh yes, I did read your fic 'Schizo'. T'was good. I shall read it again to refresh my memory, though, since it's been a while.

CloudRox1- I love your stories. Ok…now that that has been taken care of… Thank you. It makes me feel good when people say that they like my story. WHOAH! Watch out for those random pitchforks!

Chibichocobo- Ahh yes…Vincent is grand, isn't he? I write like an 11th grader? Those little Master Tests and stuff say that I have a college reading level ^^:;;; I hope that my language arts teacher loves me. I can't afford to get anything lower than a B in her class since I'm already…well…not doing to well in math.

Zidanedager- *grins* Thanks so much! I haven't written a TifaxCloud before, but maybe one day I'll try. Thanks for reviewing ^^

Wwwwwwwww- Very…umm…w-ish….Thank you for reviewing nonetheless.

Mystic-Kitty06- *bows* Thank you very much for the review, I feel very special now. ^^ You just started, huh. I've been reading them for…I don't even know. But if I were your sister you'd be crushed under the amount I'd make you read. *grins* Damn….tenth grade sucks that badly? I don't know if it can beat History Day, though. I had a nightmare about History Day the other night...Anyway ^^;;. You really think I write that well? *Thanks you profusely* I shall keep my chin up and keep writing. Thank you for the motivation! :-D

Thank you all for reviewing! You are the people who keep me motivated to write more.

And thank you KitsuneDewAddict for beta-ing my story! *Gives her a round of applause and a hug*


	8. Not everything is sunshine and roses

Okay… I'm not even sure if sorry could ever come close to being enough. I literally disappeared off the face of the Earth for a year, and then I come back randomly to bring you a chapter of a story I think I swore to myself that I would never finish. Alas, here I am… with another chapter. This past year has been one of the hardest years of my life… there have just been too many things coming all at once, but I've gotten through it and it's made me a stronger person…

NOW! WITHOUT ANY MORE DELAYS, I BRING YOU…

Bleeding Roses – Chapter 8.

Disclaimer – Do I look like I own anything? I don't even own a computer anymore, much less FFVII.

This had never happened before and Vincent was more than a little worried. Vincent had been seeing Yuffie for a couple of months now, and never in this time had she either not picked up her phone or not returned his call within the next hour or two. Yet, it had been two days and he hadn't heard a peep from her no matter how many times he tried to call her. It hadn't helped that he had been working extra these days because summer was drawing near and more and more people were doing stupid stunts because the warm weather just seemed to invigorate them so.

And yet, this wasn't just another period where she was so busy writing that she didn't have time for the phone. She and Cloud had just recently put out another book so she could relax for a while. No, Vincent had a gut feeling that something was seriously wrong. Grabbing his keys, he practically ran out of his apartment and towards the subway. Something was wrong, he knew it, and he was going to find out what it was.

After taking two subways and walking three blocks to her apartment across town. He raced up three flights of stairs, each stair he went up filling him with more dread. Panting, he knocked on her apartment door; the small kitten mobile that was hanging from the doorknob shook violently. Standing still, he tried to catch his breath as he waited for the door to open. After about thirty seconds, the door slowly began to creak open and he was faced with a red-eyed puffy-cheeked Yuffie. Instantly pulling her into his embrace, he led her back into her small, clean apartment and sat her down on the couch.

"What's happened? You haven't been returning any calls for the past two days and then I come and see you like this?" He spoke as gently as he could as to not agitate her any more. Yuffie looked up at him for a moment and started on a fresh set of tears. Vincent held her tighter and gently rocked her back and forth until she was ready to start talking. Gently pulling away but staying in Vincent's arms, Yuffie wiped her eyes and cleared her throat.

"On top of everything that's happened… on top of all the shit that's happened to my family… and to me… now she…" Her face got a little redder as if she was to start crying again at any moment, but she held it back.

"My mother… she… passed away. She was the only person left in my damn family that I remotely cared for. I know that I haven't really told you anything about my family or my past… but I think that now I'm ready to… but are you ready to hear it?" The way she said it told Vincent that what she was about to say was not the easiest thing to get out. He nodded slowly, wondering if he truly was ready to hear it. Yes, he had his own problems and things to atone for in his life, but Yuffie seemed so light and carefree at times that it was hard to imagine that anything bad could have ever happened to her.

"Thank you. Vincent," She finally said, "You're the first person, besides Tifa, that has actually listened to me. You mean a lot to me, Vincent, don't ever forget that no matter how much of a bitch to you I get because a lot of the time I'm only doing it to just.. I dunno. Fuck, I don't know anymore. My father… he's a Lord in China. He's like… the Bill Gates of martial arts. He married my mother when she was just fifteen and he was like… twenty-four. She had me at seventeen, which is a fucking shame and I promised myself that I would never end up like her. She had my brother, Shingo, when she was twenty, but I'll get to that in a moment. My father was a tyrant who only cared about appearances. He's very traditional and only let his "family" out of the house if we were in full kimono and whatnot. He made sure I could speak at least four languages, which is why I now speak Chinese, Japanases, English, French, and Spanish, but only a select few people know that." She looked up at Vincent and smiled slightly. "Anyway, my father got into a disagreement with another Lord and began to fued with him, which was a stupid idea because Lord Shake was much more skilled at fighting than he. Now, I know you must be thinking that this is completely ridiculous for all of this to be happening in modern China, but what happens between the Lords stays between the Lords and the rest of China and, especially the police, stay the hell out of it." Yuffie stopped for a moment and took a sip of the green tea that had been sitting on the table. Vincent was beside himself just trying to take all of this in. _She was the daughter of a lord, technically a princess, and she practically grew up in a modernized feudal era?_ All of this raced through Vincent's head as Yuffie took her small break.

Taking a deep breath, Yuffie started up again. "So, my father lost a lot of money and a lot of power, but he couldn't stand that, so he decided, all on his own, that he would enlist me to steal to gain back our former glory. How the hell that was going to happen, I don't know, but he apparently thought it would work. His grand idea was to… put me up for sale for the highest bidder, and once they… took me home… then it would be my job to steal jewelry from them whilst they were… occupied. I was basically… a glorified whore." Yuffie shuddered slightly, but shook her head to clear things out. Vincent sat there speechless.

"I couldn't take it anymore. I was too fucked in the head at this point to realize that this was all fucked up, but I kept doing it because I didn't want to see my mother and kid brother on the streets. Then one day I went semi-insane and ran away. I traveled all the way to Japan and met Toji… a man who I thought I loved. But, I was too fucked up and needy for some real feelings that I actually fell into the arms of a pedophile who fucked with me even more. Then, one day, I was walking down the street and I was suddenly picked up the police. Apparently, when I disappeared, my father was so distraught that his main money-making puppet was gone that he pulled the whole caring father bit and put out a warrant over all of Asia for me. Then they found out about Toji and I had to go through a whole series of trials and all my parents could talk about was whether or not I had gotten AIDS from him, which scared the shit outta me. And, let me tell you, there is nothing more nerve-racking then getting the test results from someone who might have given you AIDS. Thank the gods, he didn't have it, but it was just… hard.

"And from that point on, my father basically just… disowned me. My mother still cared for me, but in that way that only mothers can. My father wisely decided to not put me back in that business, and opted to make money by regular means, which was a huge relief on my part. The bad part was that he now had my brother doing regular performances as some acrobat… and my brother was only about twelve or thirteen at this time. I was about… fifteen-sixteen. Then he got fed up and just up and left one day. So young… yet he just left. It broke my heart because he and I were so close. He left me a letter… I was the only one he left anything to. And to do this day, I still cry if I read it… because I never did hear from him again. We don't even know if he's alive or not." A few rebel tears streaked her face, but she didn't let them all fall. Not yet, at least.

"That was when I knew I had to get away. I told my parents that this was it and I had to leave for the better of everything. My poor mother, only in her mid-thirties now, left crying and my father just beat the shit out of me and told me not to come back until I had more respect for the Kisaragi name. Then I took what money I had and left to come to the states. I chose New York because I felt I could blend in the best here. Here is where I found myself, started anew, and then I began to write… and then I think you know the rest from there." She stopped finally and took a deep breath. Vincent was in shock. He knew that she avoided the subject of her family, but he never, in his right mind, could have fathomed that things would be so bad. She seemed a little calmer now that she had gotten all of this off of her chest, but she still looked miserable. Not knowing what to do or say, he took her into his arms once again. All of this was just… too much. The amount of trust that she must have for him was amazing, and the amount of respect for her that he held had just doubled, or even tripled. Somehow, though, he just knew that there was no turning back now that all of this had come out, and, quite honestly, he had no intention of turning back.

"So what happens now that your mother has passed away?" Vincent asked in a slightly shaky voice. Yuffie sniffed again and cleared her throat.

"I'm debating on whether or not to go back to China and go to her funeral because I don't want to see _that man_ and I know that my brother won't be there… there's nothing there for me except a woman who was practically banned from loving me and died from a broken heart. And…now that I think about it, I'm not going to. I closed that chapter in my life, and no matter what, I can't open it again." Yuffie had a glint of firm resolution in her eye. The same glint that made her _her._ A small part of Yuffie was coming back out of the ruin. Vincernt saw it and immediately felt a little better. Yuffie was, no matter what anyone said, an incredibly strong woman. A bit carefree and oblivious at times, and other times just obnoxious, but underneath it, she was as mature as a woman could get. At the same time, it also answered a lot of question, including why she was insecure about her body and why she was so afraid of sex. No matter what would happen, how far they would get, she would always stop them just before the actual intercourse started and say that she "wasn't ready" or "wasn't in the mood for that".

Suddenly revived, Yuffie got up and bolted into the bathroom, and Vincent could hear the sounds of her washing her face and whatnot. She came out a couple minutes later make-up free, and looking much more refreshed with a Yuffie-esque expression on her face.

"FUCK YOU, GODO! This Kisaragi will NOT be there to see your ugly stupid monkey face you worthless old man!" Kicking the air a few times, she smiled and looked at Vincent with a slightly daring look on her face.

"Do you think I could spend the night at your place tonight?"

* * *

FIIINAALLLYYY done. That chapter sure is a heavy one, but I needed something to break up the cutesey monotony. I meant for it to be longer but I'm actually not used to typing so much.I can't believe it. I have a month left of school, finals are in three weeks, and I'm 100 NOT READY for them… but I felt that I really really needed to write this chapter. This chapter really does mean a lot to me because it… well… I don't want to say it's the story of my life, because it most definitely isn't, but part of it is… soo…yeah, this is a really important chapter to me for that reason.

Now, onto my favorite part of the day. No, not lunchtime…. TIME TO THANK MY ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL REVIEWERS!

The Evil One – Eighth grade was hard but well worth it in the end. Ninth grade is harder but tons more fun. :P Yeah, I'm a special one that likes fishnets AND FFVII! bows Thankies for reviewing!

Gothic Yokai – Well, it's not exactly soon but I AM updating! dances It's been… wow… more than a year, methinks. Wow… I really need to start crackin'. I think I'm also gonna bust out on more of the stupid laws just cause they're awesome times a bajillion.

victem-of-depression - blushes Thank you so much. Yeah, I forgot my username and password for a loooonnnggg time. That sucks majorly. As for curing a writer's block… watch a whole bunch of Tim Burton movies and eat some ice cream. :P grins Thank you much much for reviewing.

Filthy – Mmmm… Fiiillltthhhyyy… achem Don't mind me. laughs I think that I was the master of Alaska I wouldn't have mooses mating on the streets on Sunday either. How immoral of those mooses. :P Thank you much, and I'm hoping to update a bit more than I have.

Kitty Person aka Kari – YES! MY FELLOW KITTY PEOPLE! W00t! laughs Paradise Kiss completes me with its awesomeness. And, YES, I shall update more! puts on super cape and flies away

yeyana v. – I haven't read a fanfic in like.. 9450239584 years because I haven't had a computer in 489572437543 years… but I STILL REMEMBER CATALINA'S FIC! Meow, it makes me so happy. Ahahaha, she and I are the same though because we take a long as time to finish anything. :D I SHALL update.

Kris - hides under her blanky I will be more dedicated. I will update more. I will be cooler. I will be a cool kid. I will update more!

Hikaru Tsukiyono - omfg! That alllwwwaaayyysss happens to me. It's crazy. I guess the reason why I like them paired up like that is because they're so different. Opposites attract, like that old Paula Abdul song. laughs Thank ye for reviewing!

Alx91 - hides from the pitchfork I'm so sooorrrryyyyy! I've just been so… I dunno, messed up for the past YEAR that I haven't had the time to write or anything. I am SOOOO SOORRRYYY! I BEG FORGIVENESSSS! I promise I'll try and update faster, just for you.

Topo Starlight - smiles Thank you so much. At first I didn't think that having her that way would work out, but from what I'm hearing, it appears that it did. I'm gonna try and put out more chapters now… I just hope that I didn't lose everyone who had been reading this story before.

Kapen Youth – Damnit, I was always the only person in my class that didn't know the definition of that damn word. It was like… the breaking down of government or something. Ack, come back to me in three years and I'll tell you what it means. :P Thanks for reviewing, dahling!

Saesama – Ooh! So yoooouuu'reeee her sister! TRAIN HER WELL AND LET HER KNOW THE GOODNESS OF THE FANFICTION-Y WAYS! grins I am of the appreciating of the reviews that you have left for moi because it makes me super happy!

wipes her brow Whoo… only a page more to go.

CloudRox1 – Yessss…. I doooo love your stories. is infitintely happy that you commented Thank you soo much. puts on her track suit IT'S GO TIME! writes like a mad demon

Mahabaraba – Hey, I think that's an awesome name, and if you didn't already have it then I'd take it for my own and say that I came up with it even though you thought of it but I wouldn't know that you did unless you posted up with that name unless I read your mind and took it before you could post it up and then said it was mine and then formed my body into yours and slowly took over your life and replaced you and hid you in a closet for all of eternity. takes a deep breath…. …. … … … Don't mind me. Yes… let us slay the "like like" girls, for they TORTURE MY SOUL! laughs Thank you much, dahling.

Lone Gunmen – Ahh… school sucks majorly… unless you have totally kickin' friends to pick up the days. Eighth grade was super whack, though…. Eek! I'm on a favorites! dances around like an idiot Okay, don't mind me, really. I looovvee you! Whee! Thank you for reviewing!

A Fire Inside Girl - grins Merci merci! My French is absolutely horrible and I believe that I am currently FAILING that class MISERABLY! But that's okay because I know how to say "Give me food" and that's about all I think I need to know how to say… Mmm… foood. Thank you so much for reviewirng. Means a helluva lot to this little girl.

DATsukai - Aww… really? You think so? blushes like a crazy loser Thank you soooo much!

Superpup1357 – For you, yes, I SHALL update. Meow. Yummy. Thankies muchos.

Aj-sama - grins Thank you so much. That means a lot to me when I hear that I've made an accurate portrayal of the characters. Rumiko Takahashi forever! W00t!

Matt – Thankies much. When you write it yourself, the humor just doesn't seem as funny so I'm sitting here with my fingers crossed hoping people will at least get a chuckle from this.

Ruri-sugar - curtseys Thank you sooo much for reviewing. Impressed? Wow, I'm sure not. Grr.. now I have to update so I can make this story better. Onwards and onwards!

Vincent Noble Valentine - laughs Wordy is not the word. Out of my league… yeah, that fits a little better. :P Thank you so much for commenting. Geez, I really do think it's about time I started this story back up again.

collapses on the ground I'm FINISHED! Damnit, that's what happens when you leave your work to pile up. Once again, I am SOOOO SOORRRRYYY! Expect another chapter out sooner than it took to get this one out.

See you guys in Chapter Nine which I already have major ideas for. :P


	9. You've Got Some Strange Aquaintances

Yes, I know, it's been a damn long time. So sue me, I haven't had a computer. Just to say, I'm pretty sure my writing style has changed dramatically so I hope it doesn't change the course of the story too badly. Also, I'm gonna keep all the thanks until the last chapter just because I can barely keep up with them…. And that's a signal for you all to applaud yourselves because everyone who's reviewed… well, know that I love you dearly. I wouldn't have even picked this story back up if it weren't for you.

So, without further adieu, is chapter nine.

-------------------------

Vincent was a man of very few words. He chose to share most of his inner thoughts with himself and his "friends" inside himself. So what if he was a little crazy? That just increased the appeal. As Vincent lay awake in his bed, he was a man of even less words. What could he say that could improve his current situation. He was making bank working in the ER and patching up dumbasses who managed to critically injure themselves, he had a place in the city that he lived in, he had an invaluable circle of friends, and most of all, he just had the most intense night sex with a girl he could do nothing more than cherish. At this point, all he needed was as joint and the power to fly to make this moment any better.

The feeling of a warm body next time him shook him out of his thoughts and he smiled down at a tangled mass of brown hair and smudged eye makeup. This was the girl that could bring the normally stoic Vincent Valentine to a blushing, stuttering mess. She could also bring him to a writhing mass, but that was besides the point. The point was, Vincent was happy. Vincent and everyone else in his was happy. Happy in a way that he/they hadn't been happy in a long time. 'I could ask her to marry me', Vincent thought as Yuffie rubbed her eyes, smudging her hands with black, and propped herself up.

"G'morning." She said, putting over her mouth to cover her yawn and looking at him sheepishly. Despite the fact that they'd been together for months, there's always that first awkward moment after the first time you've had sex.

Vincent leaned over and kisses her forehead. Despite the knots and the huge black smudges, she was absolutely adorable.

"G'morning." He replied, the corners of his lips curving upwards slightly. It could go so far as to be considered a smile on a good day.

"What happened last night?" Yuffie asked, straightening herself out and leaning on Vincent's chest. He moved the arm he was laying on to wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer. Vincent smiled. "After you asked if you could, ahem, spend the night at my place, you figured it would as good a time as any to party your newfound peace of mind so we went down to the Keybar where we proceeded to drink.. a lot." Vincent touched his head slightly at the memory, his grogginess still not quite gone. "I got into a fight with some guy with a glow necklace and we left, somehow made it back to my apartment -" Yuffie cut him off. "I remember everything very clearly from that point on." She grinned. He leaned over and kissed her softly. If now was an appropriate time to be screaming and jumping and whopping and doing other things that involved celebration, he'd be doing it. But, for the time being, he settled on shifting until he was on top of her and grinning at her devilishly. Yuffie felt feeling in certain limbs fade away while others increased. It was that devilish grin and the promise of something more that made her weak for him every time…

-------

Three in the afternoon is always a great time to get out of bed.

At least, as far as Yuffie Kisaragi is concerned.

It's an especially good time to get out of bed when you're tangled in your boyfriend's sheets, clumsily heading towards the shower while your boyfriend makes coffee.

Indeed, three in the afternoon is a great time to get out of bed.

Vincent was in the kitchen with a cigarette resting between his lips, an omelet on the stove, and coffee on the pot. He usually didn't smoke but every once and a while he felt like he deserved it, and now was most definitely one of those times. Yuffie snuck up behind him, freshly showered and still damp, and plucked the cigarette out of his mouth, taking a drag for herself before placing it on the ashtray on the counter. Exhaling, she leaned over to inspect the cheesy egg mass that was currently on the frying pan.

"I didn't know you were such a culinary genius." She remarked, attempting to stick a greedy finger in the center of the cheesy-goodness but pulling it away when she realized how hot it was.

"Are you attempting to steal cheese from an omelet? That's just wrong on so many levels." Vincent remarked lightly, turning the eggs over to cook the other side. Yuffie simply grinned as a response.

"Once a klepto, always a klepto, I guess." She said, walking back to his room to "borrow" and shirt to wear for the rest of the day. "Oh, and an ollld friend is coming to visit. He's a mix between a the father I never had and the brother I lost, so I want you to meet him. Just… try not to be intimidated by him. And we're all having dinner later tonight, just so you know." She trailed off into laughter while she searched through his drawers looking for the largest shirt he had so she could swim in it. Vincent picked the cigarette back up and inhaled deeply. Yuffie was a darling girl and he cherished her deeply, but there was no avoiding the fact that she was still a helluva lot more young and energetic than he was. A piece of cigarette ash fell into the omelet and he quietly mashed it around to make it unnoticeable and turned off the stove, calling Yuffie in for breakfast. That was enough breakfast making for him for one day.

----

They all sat in a midly uncomfortable silence around the table. Yuffie's guest had been a chain-smoking pilot she had met on her journey's whom she had formed a very strange relationship with. He made fun of her, she made fun of him, they'd start fighting violently, and then they'd end up somewhere laughing about it all. But, here they were, in dead silence, in the Moonstruck diner. Vincent was under the scrutiny of Cid and Yuffie was trying to decide who to speak to first.

"I'm gonna go out for a smoke break." Cid finally said, pulling out his pack of Marlboros and getting up. Vincent, feeling the craving from the uncomfortable silence, quietly replied with a 'me too' while getting up as well. Yuffie knew this was her moment to sit behind and let them talk so she smiled and nodded to Vincent while he grasped for his lighter in his pocket, following Cid out the door.

Leaning up against the building, Cid and Vincent stood in silence before Cid finally turned to Vincent, and unreadable expression in his eyes.

"So, you're going out with the brat?" Cid said, his voice gravelly from his years of continuous smoking. Vincent nodded firmly.

"It's been about six months now, and she's really become the most important person in my life." He replied and felt relieved at the softening in Cid's eyes. Cid took one last drag and threw the butt on the ground, stomping it out.

"You better fucking keep it that way or I'll kill ya." He smiled somewhat good naturedly, but somehow Vincent knew that he wasn't joking in the least. Walking back into the restaurant, both men seemed to be much more at ease with each other and Yuffie could easily tell.

"What do you say we get out of here and hop over to the 7th Heaven?" Yuffie suggested, grinning all the while. A more upbeat atmosphere would only help the situation and she hadn't seen Tifa for quite a while. Cid and Vincent nodded, knowing the upbeat café would bring a little more laughter. Getting up from the table, Yuffie walked alongside Vincent, holding his hand while Cid chatted about the places he'd been. Yuffie, smiling broadly all the while, squeezed Vincent's hand gently.

_-Flashback-_

_Yuffie and Vincent were walking back from a friend's party, hand in hand, simply enjoying each other's company. They'd been going out for about five months at this point and were all too comfortable in each other's presence. Vincent seemed to have something on his mind, though, which Yuffie picked up on right away. _

"_Hey, Vince, what's wrong? It looks like something's on your mind." Yuffie asked, squeezing his hand gently. He snapped out of his thoughts and smiled down at her, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks._

"_I was just wondering if… I dunno. Nevermind." He said, looking away while his blush crept up to his ears. Yuffie would have none of this. She jumped in front of him with her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face. _

"_Just tell me! It'll be a lot easier that way." She said, almost as a warning. Vincent rolled his eyes and continued walking. Yuffie took this opportunity to jump on top of him. _

"_Just tellll me. I'm gonna die if you don't tell me!" She screamed into the streets. Vincent grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. This left her shrieking as all of this happened before she could notice. In an attempt to free herself, she pounded her fists on his back screaming something about karate chopping him in the neck. Grabbing hold of her once again, Vincent swung her around and set her back on her feet before kissing her quickly, smiling, and walking off once more. Yuffie, realizing the direct approach wasn't working, stalked up to Vincent and quietly got hold of his arm, rubbing his hand against her cheek._

"_What is it you wanted to ask me, babe?" She asked. Finally conceding, he stopped walking and looked at her directly._

"_Do you want to move in with me?" Vincent asked, completely stoic. Yuffie was taken aback, not quite expecting this, but she smiled softly, kissing his palm._

"_Not right now, but you'll know when I'm ready to take you up on it."_

_-End Flashback-_

"I'm ready to take you up on that offer you gave me a month ago, babe." She said, a gentle smile playing on her lips. Vincent looked at her for a moment in shock and then smiled, squeezing her hand back. He'd discuss this later with her… in the bedroom.

----

Well, there's chapter nine. If it helps you all any, I have no fucking clue where this is going and I'm just writing shit as it comes to my mind. I'll muddle this over in my head over some Madonna and pie.


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